Year-round baseball leads to more youth injuries, study says

Being able to play baseball year-round puts young pitchers in the southern United States at increased risk for an overuse injury in their throwing arm, a new study finds.

University of Florida researchers looked at college baseball players and found that those who play in the South are 5.5 percent more likely to suffer an ulnar collateral ligament tear in the elbow in their throwing arm than those in other parts of the country.

The investigators also found that high school pitchers in the South are 6.2 percent more likely to suffer that type of injury than those in the North.